A Pilgrim Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us, a time when we are called to think back over the events of the previous year and give thanks for the many blessings we’ve received.

For some it will be a time of unalloyed joy, but not everyone finds it so easy to count their blessings. The past year may have been one of personal hardship and tragedy, a time marked by the experience of sickness or death of loved ones. All are not thriving in the present economy, and many experience anxiety about the political status quo and fear about the future. You can be sure the media will be reminding us that depression strikes many especially hard during the holiday season, and we can understand why this is the case. There can be a deep sense of disconnection between the bitterness of daily life in a fallen world and the saccharine sweetness of seasonal pomp.

How can we reconcile hardship with the holiday spirit? How can we give thanks in the midst of trial and trouble? We can find answers to these questions by reflecting upon the history and the worldview of the pilgrims who initiated the festival that has become our national Thanksgiving holiday.

Pilgrim origins
When most Americans think of the pilgrims and Thanksgiving, images come to mind of folks dressed in black and white – the men wearing tall hats and big buckles on their jackets and shoes – all feasting on turkey and pumpkin pie. There is a sense that religion was important to them and that Indians were part of the celebration.

But when it comes to detailed knowledge about these forebears of ours, we often come up short. The teaching of history is not what it once was, and there is reticence (if not downright hostility) in the halls of academia toward a faithful retelling of the story of the pilgrims.